Minocqua Winter Park

The renowned trails at Minocqua Winter Park will be open to another kind of outdoor enthusiast until Mother Nature decides to bring the white stuff.

Executive Director Tim Collins says they will be opening some trails to fat tire bikes and hikers...

"....normally at this time we have at least a foot of snow on the ground. Without that, we can't see our cross country ski friends. We hope to see them on bikes or new guests at Winter Park. We're opening Saturday morning 25 kilometers of cross country ski trails to fat bikes...."

The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation awarded two $1,000 grants to Minocqua Winter Park’s skier development programs this week. Director Tim Collins says the grants support the mission of growing the sport in the Lakeland area.

“…what’s most important to us is to get our community members and neighbors on skis. So we have our wolves and pups programs, and we use these grant dollars to subsidize the entry fee and the equipment rental costs for participants of those programs.”

A handful of people came up with a bunch of ideas Tuesday to increase the number of visitors to the popular Minocqua Winter Park and Nordic Center located several miles west of Minocqua.

Winter Park already has a good base of attractions: nearly 100 kilometers of cross-country ski trails, a winter tubing hill, snowshoeing trails and a skating pond. But the park gets little use in other seasons.

Snow cover and relatively mild temperatures having been making for good silent sports conditions.

Minocqua Winter Park says the numbers of skiers, snowshoers and tubers visiting the park are outpacing last year’s figures.

Director Tim Collins says that’s thanks in part to this year’s early snowfall.

“We have been open almost continuously since early November. We did close down for the opening of gun deer season, and for a couple of days in December when it rained. Other than those days, we have enjoyed a deep snow base.”

The frigid weather may have kept skiers indoors for a few days…but otherwise this season’s conditions have been prime for cross country skiing.

Tim Collins, Director of Minocqua Winter Park says the park had its biggest day ever the Saturday after Christmas.

“We had over a thousand people out at Winter Park, on Saturday December 28. And the numbers before and after were very close. So all of our trails, 100 kilometers of ski and snowshoe trails have been groomed to perfection this season.”